Tree-harvesting apparatus



Sept. 15, 1970 J. E. BLONSKY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS s Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 INVENTOR 1 Joseph E. B/onsky BY Q4 M 0. 2 7

AGE/VT Sept. 15, W70 J. E. BLONSKY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 L lllllll INVENTOR Joseph E. Blonsky AGE/VT Sept. 15, 1970 J. E. BLONSKY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 INVENTOR Joseph B/onslry AGE/VT Sept. 15, 1970 J. E. BLONSKY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 INVENTOR Joseph E. Blonsky m m5 vS AGE/VT J. E. BLONS KY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS Sept. 15, 1970 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 INVENTOR Joseph E. Blonsky AGE/VT Sept. 15, 1970 J. E. BLONSKY TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheet 0 Filed Aug. 28, 1967 Joseph E. B/onsky AGE/VT Sept. 15, 1970 J. E. BLONSKY 3,528,453

TREE-HARVESTING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1967 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 //v VE/VTOR Joseph E. B/onsky AGE/VT United States Patent Office 3,528,468 Patented Sept. 15,, 1970 U.S. Cl. 144-309 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Tree-harvesting apparatus embodying the invention comprises a vehicle having tree-felling means mounted thereon. The tree-felling means may be moved in several directions so as to selectively engage and fell trees. Means and methods also are provided for preventing entanglement of the falling trees with adjacent trees and for catching them upon the vehicle as they are felled. Means also may be provided to bunch, transport, and unload trees which rest on the vehicle.

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 606,104, filed Dec. 30, 1966, and now abandoned, for Tree Shearing and Assembly Vehicle.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for harvesting trees. More specificaly, it relates to motor-driven vehicles having attachments which fell standing trees, successively receive the felled trees, transport the trees to a selected location, and unload them. Tree-harvesting machines known theretofore have been intended mainly for clearcutting and for thinning or selective cutting of thinly populated stands. If existing machines are compact enough for thinning purposes, they usualy lack maneuverability and means for selectively positioning their cutting devices when operated in crowded stands. Because of increasing costs and scarcity of labor, there is a need to provide tree-harvesting machines which are versatile, efficient, and economical.

For mechanical thinning, it is desirable to employ a mobile vehicle which will fell trees in such manner as to clear a roadway of greater width than the width of the machine. It is also important that such a vehicle be one which will fell trees near to the 'vehicle without shifting the position of the vehicle with respect to each tree to be felled.

In Wood procurement operations, felled trees usually are bunched; that is, they are aligned and brought together in a compact group in order to facilitate handling them subsequently. Thus, it is desirable to provide treeharvesting apparatus with means to bunch felled trees. Other desirable features are capabilities for transporting and selectively unloading felled trees. It is also desirable to provide means for ensuring that falling trees which have just been cut do not become entangled in surrounding trees.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Heretofore, large motor vehicles have been provided to harvest standing trees. Such "vehicles may have means for cutting a tree, lowering it into horizontal position, removing its limbs, cutting the bole of the tree into sections, and stacking the sections upon retaining means. Other known machines are directed primarily to delimbing standing trees before shearing the tops and bottoms of the trees. Another type of machine successively cuts a plurality of standing trees, picks them up, loads them upon the vehicle, and transports themto another location for further operations thereon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tree-harvesting apparatus embodying the invention comprises a vehicle having shearing means mounted thereon to fell trees, means for positioning the shearing means in engagement with the 'bole of a tree, and means for actuating the shearing means to sever the bole. In addition, means are provided to elevate a tree at the instant it is severed so that it will not become entangled with adjacent standing trees. Additional means may be provided to successively receive the felled trees, transport them to a selected location, and unload them.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, left-front, perspective view of a tree-harvesting apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a left-side view of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a left-side view of a tree-felling assembly forming part of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the felling assembly shown in FIG. 4, with the shear blade in open position;

FIG. 6 is a right-side view of the felling assembly;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the felling assembly, with the shear blade completely closed;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top plan view of a trolley boom incorporated in the felling assembly, with the boom construction shown in phantom view;

FIG. 9 is a cross section of the trolley boom taken along line 99 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross section of the felling assembly taken along line 1010 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view, looking downwardly and rearwardly, of the roof structure of the vehicle;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a tree-unloading means and associated elements;

FIG. 13 is a front elevation of the tree-unloading means, with parts thereof shown in dump position by phantom lines;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary cross section taken along line 14-14 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 15 is a left-side view of a felling assembly of the adjustable-anvil type;

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the felling assembly shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a cross section taken along line 17-17 in FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an alternate design of shear assembly having a pivotable anvil;

FIG. 19 is a top plan view of the pivotable anvil shear assembly shown in FIG. 18; and

FIGS. 20 and 21 are diagrammatic representations of parallelogram movements of the pivotable-anvil shear assembly in FIGS. 18 and 19, with the elements thereof in fully extended and fully retracted positions, respectively.

TREE-HARVESTING VEHICLE WITH FIXED ANVIL FIGS. 1 to 11 of the drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention which includes a motor vehicle having a roof on top thereof and a felling assembly which 0perates in front thereof. The vehicle has an endless track assembly on each side for propelling the vehicle, but wheeled propulsion is entirely satisfactory. This embodiment has an operating cab section in front and a powerplant section at the rear which is provided with a foliagesupporting roof at a lower elevation than a bole-supporting roof over the cab section.

As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment of the invention includes a unitary frame comprising longitudinal frame members 21 attached to transverse frame members 22 to form a strong, ri gid base for the vehicle. A transverse bumper bar 23 is attached to the front ends of longitudinal frame members 21. Swinging cylinder brackets 24 and felling assembly brackets 25 are attached to the front transverse frame member 22.

The roof supports comprise lower guard rail 27, outwardly inclined front corner posts 28 which are bent to form downwardly sloping roof beams 28', operator station posts 29, upper guard rail 30, rear brace 32, posts 33, and intermediate posts 34, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The operator station comprises operator seat 35, operating console 36, hydraulic control 37, lower mesh barrier 38, and upper mesh barrier 38', as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Engine 44, in the middle of the unitary motor vehicle, as shown in FIG. 2, supplies power to sprocket drive wheels 46, which move endless tracks 47 and main idler wheels 48 of a conventional design. Tracks 47 are held in alignment by slack rolls 49. The motor vehicle is supported mainly by dual bogie clusters having two bogie rollers 51 resiliently attached to frame brackets 52 with triangular bogie arms 53. Tension on tracks 47 is maintained by track-tightening arms 54. Engine 44 also supplies power to a conventional hydraulic pump (not shown) which is connected to hydraulic fluid reserve tank 61 in the rear of the motor vehicle (FIG. 2). The hydraulic pump is connected by fluid lines to the operating console 36 and thus supplies hydraulic fluid under pressure to swinging cylinder lines 62 (FIG. 1), lifting cylinder lines 63, thrusting cylinder lines 64, shearing cylinder lines 65, and unloading cylinder lines (not shown).

The roof structure of the vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 11, comprises a roof 71 of V-shaped crosssection, which protects the operators cab and receives and positions trees falling on the roof. A sloping lower foliage roof 72 (FIG. 3) protects engine 44 and hydraulic tank 61, while supporting the branch and foliage parts -197 of felled trees (FIG. 2). Foliage roof 72 has several hinged sections for access to the engine and hydraulic means and is attached to rearwardly-sloping foliage support beams 79 (FIG. 11), attached to posts 29, 33 and 34.

Bulkheads 75 located above the operators cab are attached to the tops of roof beams 28 (FIG. 2). Catch rails 76 are attached to the top edges of bulkheads 75, and knife-edged tree guides 77 are attached to the tops of catch rail 76. A catch rail 76 and a knife-edged tree guide 77 may be combined into a solid, rigid plate having a top knife edge; this plate may be hinged for ease in unloading. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, a V-shaped, sawtoothed impact bar 74 is attached to bulkheads 75 across the front of the motor vehicle. A V-shaped tree-rocking bar 79 is attached to bulkheads 75 across the vehicle rearwardly of impact bar 74, and a V-shaped, knifeedged tree-holding bar 78 is attached transversely, near the rear of the operating cab and rearwardly of treerocking bar 79 and tree-unloading means 80. Because impact bar 74, tree-rocking bar 79 and tree-holding bar 78 are all V-shaped with the points of the VS extending downwardly, when the holes of trees fall on the forward part of the vehicle, the inclined sides of these bars direct the holes downwardly and inwardly of the bars so that the holes are bunched together and aligned.

Parts of tree-rocking bar 79 project upwardly beyond the planes defined by the top edges of impact bar 74 and tree-holding bar 78. By virtue of this arrangement, falling trees successively strike and rock over the roof and then come to rest on the roof. As a result, the kinetic energy of a falling tree is transmitted to the vehicle in successive increments, and no part of the vehicle sustains the shock of the entire weight of the tree.

If a felled tree is small, a large part of the kinetic energy is also absorbed by bending and breaking of branches as foliage parts 197 strike foliage roof 72.'-If the vehicle is designed to receive trees of average size, large trees may rock completely over the vehicle and impart most of their kinetic energy to the ground, without foliage parts 197 coming substantially into contact with foliage roof 72. The weight of hole 196 of a large tree may then rest entirely upon tree-holding bar 78, and consequently tree-holding bar 78 must have a sharp upper edge, sharp teeth, or other bole-penetrating means whereby it can bite deeply enough into the bark and wood of a hole to withstand dragging forces from foliage parts .197.

UNLOADING MEANS The tree-harvesting vehicle includes means for unloading trees which are resting on the roof of the vehicle with bole portions 196 of the trees extending forwardly, as shown in FIG. 2. The unloading means is designed to raise tree holes 196 from the roof of the vehicle and to carry them up and over catch rail 76 and tree guide 77 on one side of the vehicle, so that the trees fall to the ground alongside the vehicle.

A preferred form of unloading means, indicated generally by the numeral 80, is attached hingeably to catch rail 76 on the left side of the vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 3, 11, 12 and 13. This unloading means is a doubleacting device which comprises unloading arm 81, lifting riser 83, cylinder and piston rod 86. Cylinder 85 is connected in a conventional manner by fluid lines (not shown) to the hydraulic system which actuates various other operating elements of the apparatus. Conventional control means (not shown) are provided to cause piston rod 86 to advance, retract, or be at rest, as desired.

One upwardly-angled end of unloading arm 81 is connected hingeably to left-hand catch rail 76 by hinge pin 82. Unloading arm 81 is Y-shaped in plan view (FIG. 3) and V-shaped in front view (FIG. 13), and it spans substantially the entire distance between catch rails 76. Piston rod 86 is connected hingeably to lifting riser 83 by piston hinge pin 87. Lifting riser 83 is beneath unloading arm 81 and is attached hingeably to arm 81 by hinge pin 84. Riser guides 89 connect lifting riser 83 to top riser 88 and keep both risers 83 and 88 aligned longitudinally with the right-hand half of unloading arm 81 (FIG. 13). Top riser 88 is parallel to, and rests upon, the widened side of unloading arm 81 when piston rod 86 is retracted.

Upward extension of piston rod 86 raises lifting riser 83 and top riser 88 pivotably about hinge pin 84 in a counter-clockwise direction through are A, as seen from the front of the vehicle in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, until the top of lifting riser 83 and the bottom of the right-hand side of unloading arm 81 become parallel and into contact with each other, as seen in phantom lines in FIG. 13. As piston rod 86 is extended further, unloading arm 81 is pivoted clockwise about hinge pin 82 through arc B" of about 90, as indicated in FIG. 12, until the entire double-acting sweep unloader 80 is generally vertical. Boles 196 of felled trees, which rest upon top riser 88 as unloading arm 81 is pivoted, are carried up, over and well beyond the outside edge of left-hand catch rail 76. Boles 196 of bunched trees resting on the bole-supporting means thus are impelled upwardly over catch rail 76 and outwardly of the vehicle so that the trees fall clear of the tracks and side structure of the vehicle.

The vehicle shown in the drawings has a tree-unloading means positioned only on one side thereof. However, tree-harvesting vehicles embodying the invention may have similar unloading means installed on both sides of the vehicle so that assembled trees can be unloaded, selectively from either side of the vehicle.

This type of unloading means is also useful for unloading many other types of articles, such as logs, telephone poles, pipe, lumber, cylinders, containers and the like. It is particularly useful for unloading trees and other elongated articles from a vehicle by raising them up and over barriers, such as bulkheads 75 and catch rails 76 or side boards of a truck or other vehicle, and depositing the articles alongside the vehicle.

TREE-FELLING ASSEMBLY A swing-type, tree-felling assembly provided with a fixed anvil is shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7. This assembly comprises a two-part joint having hinge components, swing sidling means, lifting means, thrusting means, a single-boom assembly, and a shear assembly.

The two-part joint has upper and lower parts, of which the upper part is lift joint 105, of knuckle-and-bracket construction. The lower part is boom joint 110, of doublebracket construction. The vertical hinge components of both lift joint 105 and boom joint 110 are attached to the motor vehicle. Vertical pin 107 of lift joint 105 is fastened to transverse bumper bar 23 and to lower guard rail 27. Horizontal lift hinge pin 106 permits pivoting of the lifting means in a vertical plane.

Boom joint 110 pivots about a vertical boom hinge pin 111 attached to felling assembly brackets 25. Hinge pin 111 is aligned vertically with vertical pin 107 of lift joint 105. Thus, lift joint 105 and boom joint 110 function like the hinges of a gate. Boom joint 110 includes a horizontal hinge pin 113, which permits pivoting of the trolley boom 120 in a vertical plane, and also includes a swing bracket 114 attached to the swing sidling means and to the side of boom joint 110. As shown in FIG. 1, the swing sidling means comprises a hydraulic swing cylinder 115, piston rod 116, and swing hinge pin 117.

Trolley boom 120 is of generally H-shaped construction and is attached at its lower inner end to hinge pin 113. A trolley clearance bracket 130 is attached to the upper surface of trolley boom 120 with one arm close to the upper, forward end of trolley boom 120. Bracket hinge pin 131, located at the midpoint of trolley clearance bracket 130, is attached to the lifting means. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the lifting means comprises a hydraulic lifting cylinder 135, attached to lift joint 105 by lift hinge pin 106, and piston rod 136, which is attached to hinge pin 131 at the apex of trolley clearance bracket 130.

Trolley boom 120, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, has web 121, horizontal flanges 122, and vertical reinforcing plates 123 welded to horizontal flanges 122 to form a reinforced box structure for the rearward portion of trolley boom 120, a narrowed triple web structure (FIG. 9) for the middle portion of trolley boom 120, and a conventional beam structure for the forward end of the trolley boom. Trolley raceways 124 are thereby defined on the upper edges of lower flanges 122, outside of reinforcing plates 123 and along the middle portion of trolley boom 120, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the thrusting means in this embodiment is thrust cylinder 160 attached by thrust pin 161 to bracket 162. Bracket 162 is attached to bottom flange 122 of trolley boom 120 near itsrearward end. The end of thrust piston rod 163 is shown in FIG. 10 and in phantom view in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 8, and 10, trolley 140 comprises parallel housing plates 141, bottom plate 143, buttresses 144 (omitted in FIG. 8), load rollers 146, raceway rollers 148, bottom rollers 149, trolley take-up wedges 151, wedge guides 152, trolley thrust pin 153, wedge set pins 154, and wedge strips 155. Bottom plate 143 (FIG. 10) and buttresses 144 are attached to housing plates 141 and to the top member of the shear beam therebeneath. Trolley thrust pin 153 passes through thrust piston rod end 163. Trolley take-up wedges 151 keep bottom roller 149 in close contact with bottom horizontal flange 122 by exerting strong upward pressure on the shaft of bottom roller 149, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6-.

The shear assembly (FIGS. 4 and comprises trolley 140, channel-shaped shear beam 171, anchor pin 173, shear cylinder 176 (FIGS. 5 and 7), shear piston rod 177,

fulcrum pin 179, blade pin 178, anvil backup plates 181, anvil 182, anvil arm 184, and shear blade 190. Shear beam 171 is attached to and hangs from trolley 140. Cap 172 protects the rearward end of shear beam 171 and has openings therethrough (not shown) for shear-cylinder hydraulic fluid lines 65 to pass to shear cylinder 176. Anchor pin 173 receives the compressive force of shear cylinder 176 at the rearward end of shear beam 171. Blade pin 178 hingeably connects shear piston rod 177 and blade 190. Blade is a flat plate of substantial thickness and of generally sectorial shape. The leading edge, opposite to blade pin 178, forms a double-beveled cutting edge 191 (FIG. 15).

Anvil 182 and anvil back-up plates 18 1 are attached to the side of shear beam 171 opposite to shear cylinder 176. The forward-facing holding edge of anvil 182 is concave, with concavity most pronounced near shear beam 171, and is provided with anvil teeth 183 which face generally toward fulcrum pin 179 whereby a tree bole tends to become cradled close to shear beam 171. Anvil 182 has a downwardly bent anvil arm 184 at its outer end, which provides a cam surface for positioning blade 190 as it moves through a tree bole 196 toward the closed position shown in FIG. 7. As shown in cross section in FIG. 14, anvil teeth 183 are beveled upward to form a series of sharp holding edges which, in combination with cutting edge 191, creates a positive couple of equal parallel forces having a minimum moment arm.

OPERATION OF SWING-TYPE TREE- FELLING ASSEMBLY In the operation of the swing-type tree-felling assembly shown in FIGS. 1 through 7, the tree-harvesting vehicle is driven to a position near enough to a tree for shear blade 190 and anvil 182 to be placed horizontally on opposite sides of the tree, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The tree-felling assembly is actuated so as to position anvil 182 and blade 190 near to the ground and on opposite sides of bole 196. Hydraulic fluid is introduced under pressure into shear cylinder 176, whereupon blade 190 is caused to turn in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 3, and to sever bole 196.

During the tree-shearing operation, the upper beveled surface of cutting edge 191 exerts an upward force upon the sheared butt of bole 196, and its lower beveled surface exerts an equal downward force upon the sheared top of the tree stump. With transverse forces thus in balance, cutting edge 191 shears straight across the bole of the tree. With the downward force opposed by the unyielding ground and with the upward force resisted by the weight of the tree, cutting edge 191 initially crushes the adjacent wood fibers on both sides of the hole. Then, when cutting edge 191 is nearly to its closed position, blade 190 acts like a wedge and the upward force it exerts lifts the cut face of the sheared tree bole 196 upwardly in a felling plane 192 (FIG. 7), which is normal to cutting edge 191.

The most powerful and effective wedging action takes place at the point of closure, as shown in FIG. 7, whereby a strong tilting impetus is imparted to sheared bole 196 as the last fibers are cut. If no adjacent trees entangle the foliage and limbs of a sheared tree, the tree drops in free fall onto impact bar 74 along felling plane 192, which forms an acute angle with shear beam 171.

BOLE POSITIONING As pointed out previously, it is desirable to bunch holes 196 of trees which are resting on the roof means, in order that they may be handled easily in subsequent operations. By means of the felling assembly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is possible to reach almost any overhead position that a bole 196 could assume on the roof means and grasp it between cutting edge 191 and anvil teeth 183. By proper movement thereof, the felling assembly can be caused to move laterally any holes 196 that are positioned improperly on the roof means and to bunch the boles in a desired compact alignment.

TREE-TOSSING MEANS Frequently, limbs of trees are entwined to some extent with limbs of adjacent trees. When the bole of a tree is cut, the limbs of the adjacent standing trees may catch the falling tree and impede its fall, alter its direction of fall, or even prevent it from falling. However, if a tree is lifted quickly above surrounding foliage as soon as its bole is sheared, the fall of the tree is impeded by the foliage of adjacent trees to a much lesser extent than would be the case if the felled tree were permitted to fall without being lifted. In accordance with the invention, means are provided to lift a sheared tree as soon as its bole 196 is severed and before the falling tree has lifted appreciably from its vertical position. This means can be called a tree-tossing means, and can be described most readily in terms of operational procedure. This procedure is as follows:

At the very moment that blade 190 is fully closed, as shown in FIG. 7, or slightly sooner, the operator energizes hydraulic lifting cylinder 135. Since the sheared butt of bole 196 rests upon blade 190 and anvil 182, the entire tree is tossed upwards while its foliage parts 197 fall along felling plane 192 toward impact bar 74. At the upward limit of travel of the felling assembly, the sheared butt of bole 196 is disengaged from blade 190, and the entire tree pivots about its center of gravity. As a result, foliage parts 197 strike surrounding foliage while moving relatively rapidly and downwardly, instead of slowly sideways as is usual in tree-felling conditions.

ADJUSTABLE ANVIL SHEAR Instead of using the fixed-anvil shearing assembly described previously, an adjustable anvil shear assembly like that shown in FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 may be employed. With this type of shear, anvil body 182 may be moved selectively to shift the terminal position of cutting edge 191 around fulcrum pin 179 so that felling plane 192 is shifted equally with respect to shear beam 171.

This embodiment has a longitudinal dovetail gib 185 (FIG. 17) attached to the side of shear beam 171 (near to fulcrum pin 179' and opposite to shear cylinder 176), and a matching dovetail slide 186 having anvil body 182 and truncated anvil back-up plates 181 attached thereto. A flat anvil cylinder plate 283 has plates 181 attached to its forward side and a bracket and anvil pin attached to its rearward side. Attached to the anvil pin is shift cylinder 187 which moves shift piston rod 188. Cylinder pin 189 is attached by a lug to the rearward part of shear beam 171 (near to anchor pin 173) and is also attached to shift piston rod 188. Hydraulic lines (not shown in the drawings) connect shift cylinder 187 to the hydraulic pump so that cylinder 187 connected thereto may be moved along its axis to cause dovetail slide 186 to slide forward or backward, as desired, on dovetail gib 185 to shift the position of anvil 182.

By shifting anvil 182 backward or forward, cutting edge 191 is selectively pivotable through approximately 45 before reaching a fully closed position as shown in FIG. 7, whereby felling plane 192 is also varied through approximately 45 relative to shear beam 171. An operator of this type of tree-harvesting machine is able, by selectively positioning anvil 182 relative to fulcrum pin 179, to vary felling plane 192 and thereby control the direction of fall of a tree without moving the motor vehicle itself.

PIVOTABLE ANVIL SHEAR Another method and mechanism for varying felling plane 192, shown in FIGS. 18, 19, 20 and 21, involves the use of a parallelogram mechanism which pivots sickleshaped anvil 182 about pin 179 by movement of piston rod 165. This piston rod 165 is attached pivotably to pin 170 near the outer end of anvil 182. Piston rod is attached to a piston of conventional design (not shown) which slides within anvil cylinder 167. Also attached pivotably to anvil pin is anvil beam 169, which al Ways remains parallel to fulcrum plates 166. Fulcrum lates 166 are attached at their forward end to fulcrum pin 179 and at their rearward end to a cylinder pivoting pin 174, to which cylinder 167 is also attached.

Adjacent to pin 174 is anchor pin 173 to which shear cylinder 176 is attached. Shear piston rod 177 is actuated by shear cylinder 176 and is attached to shear cylinder 176 and to blade pin 178 on shear blade which is attached to and pivots around fulcrum pin 179. Anvil beam 169 is attached pivotably to anvil parallel plates 168 by pin 175, and plates 168 are also attached to cylinder pivoting pin 174. Compressive stresses are resisted by cylinders 167 and 176, and tensile stresses are withstood by fulcrum plates 166. As illustrated schematically in FIGS. 20 and 21, when piston rod 165 is drawn into the cylinder 167, anvil 182 is pivoted backwardly so that blade 190' must be pivoted accordingly to reach its fully closed position, whereby felling plane 192 (FIG. 7) is necessarily moved through an equal angle.

The adjustable-anvil and pivotable-anvil embodiments are two types of movable-anvil shears. Other means of moving the anvil so that felling plane 192 is selectively shifted are within the scope of the invention. With either embodiment, shear piston rod 177 must be long enough to permit blade 190 to pivot as far as desired. Either of these movable-anvil embodiments of the shear assembly can be combined with a suitable positioning means and boom assembly to form a versatile swing-type felling as sembly or a useful rack-type felling assembly. With capability at his finger-tip to select the proper felling angle for each tree, the operator may fell trees in the desired directions Without leaving the cab of the tree-harvesting vehicle.

It is readily understood from the foregoing description that various changes may be made in details of structure and arrangement of the tree-felling assembly, the roof means, and the unloading means wtihout departing from the scope of this invention. The appended claims are consequently intended to cover all such modifications and alterations as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A mobile tree-harvesting apparatus comprising a self-propelled vehicle having a tree-shearing means mounted on the vehicle operable upon actuation by driving means to sever the bole of a tree and initiate free fall of said tree in a direction to fall onto the vehicle and mielans carried by the vehicle for receiving a tree in free fa 2. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tree-shearing means is movable lateral y, longitudinally, and vertically with respect to the vehicle so as to selectively engage the bole of a tree to be severed.

3. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means carried by the vehicle for receiving a tree in free fall is a roof comprising bole-receiving means, bole-holding means and bole-unloading means.

4. A mobile tree-harvesting apparatus comprising; a self-propelled vehicle, tree-shearing means mounted on the vehicle and movable laterally, longitudinally and vertically with respect to the vehicle so as to selectively engage the bole of a tree to be felled, means for actuating the tree-shearing means to sever a bole thereby, said vehicle having a roof comprising a bole-receiving means, bole-holding means and bole-unloading means,

said bole-receiving means comprising a pair of elevated rails attached to said roof along the sides thereof, a transverse impact bar attached to the roof at the front end thereof, a transverse tree-rocking bar attached to the roof rearwardly of and higher than the transverse impact bar, and a transverse tree-holding bar attached to the roof rearwardly of and lower than the tree-rocking bar, whereby the hole of a tree falling on the vehicle lengthwise thereof imparts its kinetic energy successively to the impact bar, the tree-rocking bar and the tree-holding bar and no part of the vehicle receives the entire impact of the falling bole.

5. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 4 wherein each of the impact bar, the tree-rocking bar and tree-holding bar is V-shaped so as to receive, bunch and align trees falling on the vehicle.

6. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 4 wherein said transverse impact bar comprises a top edge surfaced with arresting means designed to penetrate the bark of fel ed trees and prevent sliding thereof.

7. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 4 wherein the bole-unloading means comprises a doubleacting frame which first shifts said boles toward the center of the vehicle, and then raises the holes up and over one of said elevated rails to discharge the holes from the vehicle.

8. The mobile tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 7 wherein said double-acting frame comprises an elongated unloading arm hingeably attached at one end to an elevated rail and spanning the transverse distance between said elevated rails, a lifting arm having generally parallel elongated upper and lower members above and beneath said unloading arm, said parallel members being rigidly interconnected and hingeably attached to the unloading arm near the center of said arm, and lifting means attached to said lifting arm, whereby the lifting arm is first pivoted until the lower member contacts said unloading arm and the upper member is higher than said elevated rail, whereupon the unloading arm is pivoted in the opposite direction to discharge the trees.

9. A tree-harvesting apparatus which comprises a vehicle, tree-shearing means, tree-shearing support means movably on said vehicle, means for moving the tree-shearing means into cutting relationship with the bole of a tree and means for actuating the tree-shearing means to sever the bole, said tree-shearing means comprising a pivotable blade having a double-beveled cutting edge and an anvil attached to said tree-shearing support means in a plane parallel to and slightly below that of the blade and is positioned so as to engage the bole of a tree on the side opposite to that engaged by the blade, said anvil and blade is in such relationship to the vehicle that when said blade severs a tree, the tree is caused to be felled toward said vehicle.

10. The tree-harvesting apparatus of claim 9 wherein the edge of said anvil facing the blade is concave and is provided with teeth which face toward the point about which the blade pivots.

11. A tree-harvesting apparatus which comprises a vehicle, tree-shearing means, means for supporting the tree-shearing means movably on the vehicle, means for moving the tree-shearing means into cutting relationship with the bole of a standing tree, and means for actuating the tree-shearing means to sever the bole, said tree-shearing means comprising a pivoted blade having a double beveled cutting edge of such thickness as to exert on the butt of a tree sheared thereby and on the top of the stump of the sheared tree equal and opposite forces of such magnitude that the tree is sheared cleanly across a single substantially horizontal plane, said supporting means comprising an anvil in a plane parallel to and slightly below that of the blade and positioned so as to engage the hole of a tree on the side opposite to that engaged by the blade, whereby the anvil rests beneath the blade when the blade is closed, and means for adjusting the position of the anvil with respect to the blade.

12. The method of harvesting trees with a vehicle having a tree severing means which comprises severing the bole of a tree so that the severed tree is allowed to free fall toward the vehicle, catching said severed tree against said vehicle whereby the momentum of said severed tree in free fall carries it on top of said vehic e.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said severed tree is tossed upwardly immediately after the bole is severed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,122,184 2/1964 Larson 14434 3,270,787 9/1966 Rehnstrom l4434 3,277,936 10/1966 Larson 1443 3,327,745 6/1967 Meece et al. 14434 3,385,333 5/1968 Eynon l443 2,462,314 2/1949 Fuqua 144-34 2,720,896 10/ 1955 Tourneau 144-34 OTHER REFERENCES Publication: Popular Science, July, 1946, p. 83.

GERALD A. DOST, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1'443, 34

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 5,528,468 Dated eptember 15, 1970 lnventofls) Joseph E. Blonsky- It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading to the printed specification, line 3 "Joseph E. Bronsky" should read Joseph E. Blonsky Signed and sealed this 1st day of December 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FoRM PC4050 USCOMM-DC 60376-P59 \Lst GOVIINMIIIT PRINTING GF'ICI: ll. -l-S3l 

